he is the executive director of san francisco's mental health association and took part in a news conference with legislators to boost support for mental health programs in california and across the country following the newtown shootings. but vega is opposed to the involuntary treatment programs in laura's law. >> i've had some bad experiences in mental health services. there's so many people who, precisely because they're afraid of things like coercion, things like being locked up, being labeled, they don't receive any services, they don't talk to anybody, they become more isolated. >> reporter: vega says that in the wake of a tragedy, politicians often rush to pass unhelpful legislation. >> the laura's law project was driven by this example of a tragedy and spoke to people's needs to want to try to do something different. and in this case it wasn't the right thing. but yet it can be that we rushed to create a solution before really thinking about what the implications are of it. >> reporter: the debate over involuntary treatment is familiar ground at the non profit turning point community